masterofmagicfandomcom-20200216-history
Wall of Fire
| rarity = Common | type = Town Enchantment / Combat Instant | casting_cost = | combat_casting_cost = | upkeep_cost = | research_cost = | effects = During combat at the enchanted town, any units outside the wall attempting to move or attack into the 4x4 "town-proper" area are struck by a strength Immolation Damage attack. }} Wall of Fire is a Common Town Enchantment belonging to the realm. For it may be cast during siege combat in a Town, to surround the 4x4 "town-proper" area with a wall of flames. Any unit that attempts to cross into the town, or perform a Melee Attack from the outside against a unit inside the wall, will be struck by an Area Damage attack with a strength of (delivering Immolation Damage). This type of damage affects each in the target unit separately, making it significantly stronger against units. The spell may also be cast on a friendly town on the overland map to achieve a lasting effect. In this case, the Wall of Fire will appear in every battle fought in that town. The overland Casting Cost of the spell is , and maintaining it requires an Upkeep Cost of per turn. Effects Wall of Fire creates a flaming barrier around a town during any combat that takes place there. This wall does not physically prevent movement, but will do damage to units attempting to cross it, even if it is only to exchange blows with the defenders. Triggering the Effect as seen on the combat map. The area inside this barrier is the town proper. Crossing or attacking into this area triggers the barrier's effect.]] Wall of Fire's effect is felt only during combat taking place at the enchanted Town. On the battlefield map, the 4x4 tile area representing the town proper is surrounded by a visible flaming barrier. This barrier indicates the town's perimeter. Any units attempting to move from outside this barrier into the town will trigger the barrier's effect. The same effect is also triggered by any such unit attempting to make a Melee Attack from outside the barrier against a target that's inside the barrier. Ranged Attacks never trigger the effect, even if the attacker and defender are immediately adjacent on opposite sides of the barrier. Wall of Fire applies to both the attackers and the defenders. It only deals damage when a unit attempts to cross or attack into the barrier - units already inside may move and/or attack out of the barrier without triggering the effect. units are never affected. Immolation Damage :See also: Area Damage When a unit triggers the Wall of Fire effect, it is instantly struck by a strength Immolation Damage attack. The results of this attack depend greatly on the number of live in the target unit. Each individual in the unit is struck separately with the same attack strength. In turn, each may make its own roll to avert that incoming damage. Furthermore, no can take more damage (after blocking) than it has , meaning that there is no "excess" damage that can flow over to other in the unit. However, is still applied to the unit as a whole. Damage During Melee :When the flaming barrier's effect is triggered by a unit initiating a Melee Attack from outside the barrier, the damage described above is inflicted as part of the melee attack sequence. It happens after short range attacks ( , , and Gaze), but before actual Melee Damage is delivered. :This means that any attacking killed by Wall of Fire's effect will not inflict any Melee Damage on its target. The Wall of Fire phase is also always executed, it can not be avoided by killing the defending unit with Special Attacks. Immunities Immolation Damage is the Area version of Fire Damage. This makes targets possessing either the Magic Immunity or Righteousness effects completely immune to it. Units with Fire Immunity are actually not completely immune, and block this damage as if they had instead. This, of course, applies to each in the unit individually, and makes it extremely unlikely that they will ever take any hits. The following conditional effects also offer extra protection against Wall of Fire's damage: the protective Unit Enchantments , , and ; and the Unit Ability Large Shield. Finally, as already noted above, units will not trigger the damage effect at all, and thus will naturally not take any damage from it. Usage Wall of Fire may be cast either on the overland map or during combat. Its effect is the same, but there are differences in Casting Cost, Upkeep Cost and long-term implications between these. Both versions may be dispelled during combat (with or ). However, if the besieging army fails to take the Town (i.e. loses the battle), the overland version is only suppressed temporarily, will reappear after combat, and may continue to apply in subsequent battles. Overland Version On the overland map, Wall of Fire may be targeted at any friendly Town that is not already affected by it. The overland version of the spell has a Casting Cost of . It also requires an Upkeep Cost of per turn, which is automatically paid out of its caster's Mana Pool at the start of each turn. If there is insufficient Mana in the pool at the time, the spell will dissipate immediately. Upon casting the spell, the game automatically opens a pop-up window showing the town view. A few moments later, a long stretch of flames will appear near the bottom of this view, outside the City Walls (if the town has them), to indicate that the town is now protected by a Wall of Fire. The flaming barrier itself will appear during any combat that takes place at this town, so long as the spell remains in effect. The caster of Wall of Fire may remove it by examining the town's details and clicking on the spell's name in the town's Enchantments list. This will bring up a confirmation dialogue about releasing the spell. The primary reason to do this would be in order to remove the spell's Upkeep Cost, thus conserving for other spells. Combat Version Alternatively, it is possible to cast an impromptu version of Wall of Fire during combat. This is only available for casting when defending a friendly Town. The combat version of the spell has a Casting Cost of only . However, its effect will only last until the end of the battle, and will dissipate immediately afterwards. This also means that it has no Upkeep Costs, as it doesn't linger at all. Acquisition As a Common spell, Wall of Fire may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least one Spellbook. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least Spellbooks. Customized Wizards possessing at least Spellbooks at game creation may choose this spell as one of their starting spells, in which case the spell will be available for casting immediately on the first turn. Wizards with Spellbooks always have this spell when the game begins. Wizards with or fewer Spellbooks who have not chosen Wall of Fire as a guaranteed spell have a random chance of being able to Research it. The chance for this spell to appear increases with the number of Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. With Spellbooks, the spell is guaranteed to appear for Research if it is not already available for casting. Wall of Fire has a base Research Cost of . With at least Spellbook, the Wall of Fire spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell. Strategy Wall of Fire is a very powerful defensive spell, despite its low Spell Rarity. It can render a town extremely difficult to take over with Normal Units, which stand to take a lot of damage whenever they attempt to cross it or attack through it. Larger, have less to fear from the barrier, but should attempt to cross it before making any attacks. Once they're inside, they can assault any of the defenders without triggering the wall's effect again. Of course this is much more difficult to do when the town is also surrounded by City Walls, which would need to be breached first. Remember that units do not trigger the flaming barrier effect at all. Therefore, when assaulting cities possessing Wall of Fire, bring several Flying units if at all possible. Units possessing any of the immunities listed above should work similarly well. Another alternative tactic would be to bring many Ranged Attack units, as their attack does not trigger the flames. Choosing whether to cast this spell as a permanent Town Enchantment or as an impromptu reaction during combat is the tricky part. On the one hand, a permanent Wall of Fire does not need to be re-cast each battle, and thus does not reduce the wizard's Spell Skill for casting additional combat spells. However, the overland version of the spell has a high Casting Cost, a low but constant Upkeep Cost, and may be Disenchanted by enemy wizards. If you are not expecting repeated attacks on the same city, stick with the combat version; at least 5 sizeable consecutive attacks would be required to justify the elevated costs. Known Bugs Besides dealing damage to units initializing the Melee Attack from outside the barrier, Wall of Fire is supposed to deal damage to units moving from outside the barrier into the town. However, the movement part is only ever triggered for units owned by the human player, no matter of who cast the spell. In case of the human player casting Wall of Fire, an enemy unit (either neutral or controlled by AI wizard) will never take damage when passing the barrier, while a friendly unit may take damage when moving back inside. Category:Town Enchantments Category:Combat Instants Category:Chaos Category:Walls